


Promises, Apologies, Confessions, and Sakura Blossoms

by BrinaTsukino1996



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, I actually posted a chapter, It was supposed to be a one-shot, My First Fanfic, Pre-Tartaros Arc (Fairy Tail), Work In Progress, i'll try to put up the next chapter soon, it ran away from me a bit, look I'm not dead, nalu fluff week 2016, post-GMG, post-eclipse spirit arc, so now i'm putting it here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 23:57:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8034037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrinaTsukino1996/pseuds/BrinaTsukino1996
Summary: A week before the Rainbow Sakura festival, when Natsu's mistake on a job hurts Lucy's feelings, she takes off on a job alone after threatening to leave the team! Now both of them are a mess, and Lucy could be in danger. Can Natsu fix this rift between them and protect Lucy? And what secrets will be revealed in the process?My first ever published multi-chapter fic, and my second fic overall, so no flames, please! (Constructive criticism is helpful, but please be specific if you can. It would help a lot for future chapters). Also, fair warning, I'm horrible at transitions and speech tags. Despite that, please enjoy!





	1. Natsu's Mistake

In the town of Magnolia, the year X791, the mage guild known as Fairy Tail was being even more rambunctious than usual. There was a great deal of cheering and drinking and planning going on, as in less than a week’s time, Fairy Tail would hold its annual Rainbow Sakura festival, which everyone would attend for the first time in seven years. This year’s festival would be perfect. The weather was predicted to be clear, dry, and pleasantly warm, there was no fighting going on (apart from the usual brawls), everyone was healthy, and all the pieces were falling perfectly into place. Absolutely nothing could go wrong. There was just one little problem: the incredibly loud and distinctive shouting of one Lucy Heartfilia from outside the doors.  
  
The noise level in the hall dropped a bit as Lucy’s shouting came clearly through the door. “NATSU! I told you how much I needed this job! I told you I needed the rent money, and you promised you wouldn’t destroy anything this time! You promised! And you know how much promises mean to me!”  
  
At this point, Natsu’s voice broke through faintly, “Luce, I’m sorry! I don’t know how it happened! Look, I’ll pay your rent this month- it was my fault anyway- and I promise-“ Lucy crashed through the doors, clearly fuming, “I promise I’ll try harder from now on, Luce, really!”  
  
Lucy rounded on him quickly, fire blazing in her eyes. “That’s exactly the point, Natsu! It’s not just that you destroyed half the town and lost me my rent money (again) - though that’s certainly part of the problem- it’s that you promised you wouldn’t, and you did it anyways.” Natsu tried to interject, but she barreled right over him, “You broke your promise, Natsu! You didn’t just break the town, you broke my trust!” The guild was completely silent as she delivered the final blow, “And until you earn it back, you had better find yourself a new partner!” With that, she stomped off to the request board, grabbed a random job without looking, and took off.  
  
Natsu couldn’t move. He was completely in shock. He knew he had messed up, but for her to react that badly…. He didn’t know what to think. As the guild slowly started making noise again, Gray came up from behind and grabbed Natsu’s shoulder. “Oi, Flame Brain,” he reproached, “Snap out of it.” Natsu didn’t move, and Gray shook his shoulder firmly. “Squinty Eyes, what’d you do, burn her favorite skirt again?” Natsu finally responded, “Shut up, Droopy Eyes.” Despite the familiar insult, it was obvious his heart wasn’t in it. In a last-ditch effort to get a normal reaction, Gray gave Natsu a shove. “What’s the matter, Tabasco Freak, scared to fight?” Natsu growled, “Go away, Ice Princess. I’m not in the mood.” With that, he pulled away and started to walk towards the bar despondently.  
  
It was obvious at this point that this was not a problem that could be fixed with a quick brawl, so Gray jogged to catch up to Natsu and grabbed his shoulder again, this time with shocking gentleness. “Natsu,” he began, clearing his throat awkwardly, “you okay?” He started mumbling, berating himself, “Of course he’s not okay, dumbass, Lucy just quit being his partner.” He continued mumbling to himself until he felt Natsu move, turning around to face him. Seeing Natsu’s eyes, Gray immediately went silent as his own eyes widened in shock. Natsu was crying. Natsu only cried when someone was dead or dying. As much as he hated it, Gray knew he had to help. “Natsu,” he commanded quietly, “come with me.” It was a testament to how messed up Natsu was that he followed without question. Gray swallowed nervously as he led Natsu to a back room to talk. Gray took a quick breath, then started, “Natsu, you need to tell me what happened. Now.” Silence. Gray tried again, “Natsu, you’ve got to snap out of it. Either you can tell me what happened, or I can get Erza to beat it out if you. It’s your choice. Personally, I’d rather get this done faster to go after Lucy, if I were you. I don’t know what job she took, but most of the jobs on the board today were definitely on the dangerous side-“.  
  
Gray was cut off by an unfamiliar, pained sound. It was coming from Natsu. Gray stood stunned as Natsu finally started to speak again. His voice was uncharacteristically soft and hesitant, but cracking from the tears already shed, “It was a simple job,” Natsu began, “or it should have been simple. A short monster hunt, seriously small fry compared to what we’re used to. We had almost finished the thing off when it happened. Lucy didn’t see it coming, she had her back to it. The creature’s tail was swinging straight towards her. At that size and speed, it could have killed her. I panicked. Rather than just telling her to duck, I attacked it again. I was so distracted by what had almost happened, I didn’t even notice the town. I just knew I had to stop it from hurting Lucy. The next thing I knew, half the town was leveled, and Lucy was furious. I want to apologize for breaking my promise, but I can’t apologize for saving her. I can’t. I had to do what I did. I can’t lose her, Gray.” Natsu looked up, eyes red and puffy, glistening with sheer terror. “Gray…. I don’t know what to do.”  
  
Gray was speechless. His first thought was that he had never seen Natsu coherently express so much emotion in such a short time before. His second thought was more along the lines of, ‘Shit.’ Out loud, he asked, “Did you tell Lucy all of this? Or any of it, for that matter?” He suspected the answer would be ‘no.’  
  
Natsu shook his head. “I didn’t have a chance,” he sighed. “Lucy was so angry, at first I don’t think she would have even heard me if I tried to talk, and on the way back, I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.” He sounded despondent and depressed. That simply wouldn’t do. Natsu was always supposed to smile.  
  
Natsu looked up as Gray’s hand landed solidly on his shoulder. “I know what we have to do,” Gray said confidently. Natsu raised a skeptical eyebrow, and Gray glared before continuing, “We just have to give you a chance to explain yourself, apologize, and make it up to her. The last part will be easy enough. You can do something for her for the Rainbow Sakura festival. But if you want to explain yourself and apologize properly, we’re gonna have to figure out where she went. Come on.” With that, Gray grabbed Natsu’s forearm firmly and dragged him to the bar- and, more importantly, to Mira.  
  
When they reached the bar, a very curious Mira was ready and waiting for them. She was about to ask what had happened, but seeing Natsu’s face, she decided to wait and ask Gray later. Putting her questions to the back of her mind, she smiled gently and questioned, “What can I do for you?” Looking at Natsu, she added, “Fire chicken? I had some waiting for when you got home, if you want it.” Natsu didn’t even blink. Now Mira was freaked. Natsu never refused fire chicken. Clearly, the situation was more serious than she thought. She set her mouth into a line and leaned across the bar slightly. “Alright, then, Natsu,” she urged, “what is it, exactly, that you need?”  
  
Gray stepped forward in his place. “We need to know what job Lucy took,” he reported calmly. “Or, more accurately, Natsu does.”  
  
Mira immediately pulled the book of requests towards herself and scanned the page for Lucy’s name. She found it quickly and looked over the entry. “Hmm… let’s see. It looks like she took a job in Oak Town. On the outskirts of the city.” She paused as she skimmed the rest of the page.  
  
Gray broke in, querying, “What was the actual job, Mira? We have to know.” He wasn’t able to say anymore, as Mira gasped, dropping the book to the ground with a loud bang. Mira’s hands covered her mouth in horror, and Gray hesitated before picking up the book to see just what had scared Mira so badly, as next to him, Natsu’s face paled rapidly. In moments, Gray’s own skin went straight from his usual pale tone, straight to a pasty, almost sickly white, and the book trembled in his shaking hands. Before Gray could say another word, Natsu yanked the book from him and looked for himself. A few seconds later, the entire guild went dead silent as a great shout rang out, “She’s going to do WHAT?!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is Lucy's POV after she leaves the guild hall. Nothing too exciting yet, though Lucy has a long talk with Loke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to update as often as I can. It just depends on inspiration and actual time to write. So far, so good, though! Also, a million thanks to my wonderful beta and best friend, Tumblr user asunathedarkfairy. She pretty much exclusively posts Fairy Tail fanart, mostly her own right now. She's wonderful. Also, my Tumblr is afitz1996 if any of you want to follow me there.  
> Enjoy the chapter!

Lucy walked along the edge of the canal back to her apartment with a deep scowl on her normally-cheerful face. Her mood was obvious to all around. Even the boatmen, who always called out a greeting, stayed silent, sensing the anger and buried hurt coming off of her in waves. Lucy paid it no mind. She was deep in her own thoughts. ‘Who does he think he is?’ she wondered to herself, huffing aloud. ‘He can’t just keep making all of these excuses. He should have known that eventually it wouldn’t be enough. It’s his own fault.’ She continued to rant to herself all the way back to her apartment, occasionally sighing aloud or stomping a foot, shocking the people nearby, who consequently walked just a little bit faster afterwards.  
  
Once she arrived home, she unlocked the door, ran upstairs, and immediately began throwings haphazardly into a bag. Her thoughts and emotions were in complete turmoil. Her spirits must have sensed her distress, because several of them, namely Leo, Virgo, and Aquarius, started to get warm, and she began to feel them straining to get through their gates against her magic. While normally she would have let at least one of them through, for right now, she wanted to be alone. So, the gates remained closed. Lucy closed her eyes for a moment, promising, ‘I’ll talk to you later. I promise.’ She knew her spirits had heard her, for while the keys remained warmer than normal, she could no longer feel a pull on her magic. Breathing a sigh of relief at the temporary reprieve, she continued to pack, slightly less angrily and frantically than before.  
  
When she finished packing, she took a quick look around the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Assured that she had not, she grabbed her bags, swept out the door - making sure to lock it behind her - and started towards the train station. She wondered vaguely if perhaps she should take a closer look at the job request on the way, but decided she would look on the train. The trip to the station was short, and within half an hour of leaving her apartment, she had bought her ticket and boarded the train, and was now settling into her seat by the window. She was just pulling out the flyer when her keys warmed again. Deciding this time to allow Loke to come through, she slid the flyer into her bag once more.  
  
When Loke appeared in the usual burst of light, it took Lucy a moment to figure out why he looked so serious. In her rush to get to the train station and get out of Magnolia, she had almost forgotten why she was leaving. When she realized what Loke wanted to talk about, she seriously considered force-closing his gate, but she knew she had to talk about it sometime, so she gestured for Loke to sit in the seat across from her and turned to look out the window, face blank, without a word. She had to talk about it, she knew, but that didn’t mean she was going to make it easy.  
  
Seeing that Lucy wasn’t going to talk on her own, Loke decided to break the tense silence. “Lucy,” he inquired, “what happened today? All of us could feel how upset you were. I actually staggered when I felt it, it was so strong.” Silence. This wouldn’t be easy. He tried again, “Lucy, please. I want to help. We all do. But first I have to know what happened. I can feel your heartache and anger even now. This isn’t like you.” His eyes pleaded for her to open up, and although her back was turned, Lucy could feel his concerned gaze sweeping over her. Her composure started to crumble as Loke begged, “Please, Lucy. We want to help you. We all know how hard of a time you’ve had since you got back from Tenrou. First your father and Michelle, then the Games, and then this most recent mess with us and the Eclipse Gate! We’re worried about you! Does it-” he hesitated, “does it have something to do with Natsu?”  
  
With those last few words, Lucy crumbled, the dam broke, and everything started to come out at once. Loke froze in shock as she launched herself, crying, into his arms. After a moment, he unfroze to wrap his arms around her comfortingly, rocking back and forth a bit as she sobbed uncontrollably. It was such a drastic change from her earlier silence. ‘She must have been even more upset than we realized,’ Loke mused. It was plain to him that Natsu’s name had triggered this outburst, and Loke was very much not happy with his master’s partner. ‘But she needs me right now,’ he reminded himself. ‘For right now, I need to stay with her. I can beat the crap out of Natsu later, after I know what exactly happened.’ Set in this resolve, Loke stayed where he was, waiting for his master and friend to calm herself enough to talk.  
  
It took an unexpectedly long time for Lucy to stop crying and get her breath back. Once she did, she had to clean herself up and get a drink. By the time she was ready to actually talk, it had been over an hour since Loke arrived. When Lucy returned to her seat, facing Loke this time, he turned all of his focus on her immediately. If he wanted to help her, he had to know what had upset her.  
  
Lucy took a deep breath. “It started on our last job,” she began. “Well, actually, it started just before the job. I was desperate for rent money (because, as you know, my team tends to lose rewards to damage more often than not), and I was considering just taking a couple of smaller solo jobs to make enough money. I figured that way I could make some money quickly, and then I could go on a job with the team again sooner and not have to worry about damages. The problem was, Natsu wanted to come with me. He wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Eventually I had to cave, with the stipulation that, since he had forced his way onto the job, I would get the whole reward. Natsu agreed to that easily enough, so I agreed that since there were two of us, we could go on a small monster hunt rather than what I had planned. But I had one more stipulation for Natsu. He wasn’t allowed to damage anything. Or at least not badly enough to lose any of the reward. Shockingly enough, he agreed. In fact, he went one step further. He promised me - actually said the words ‘I promise’ - that he wouldn’t break anything, and that we wouldn’t lose any of the reward on his account. Not this time. He was fully aware of what that promise meant to me when he made it. I could tell.”  
  
She paused, swallowing heavily. Loke offered her a cup of water, which she gratefully accepted, taking a few sips before continuing. “We get to the job, talk to the client, all of the normal stuff, and everything's going great. He hasn’t broken anything, he hasn’t made a scene, he even ate like a normal person! In normal portions! (I mean, he still ate some fire, but apart from that, he was normal! It was weird). But everything’s going perfectly, we find the monster, we start fighting, and Natsu is actually making an obvious effort not to break things. We’ve almost beaten it, when Natsu suddenly changes. As if someone had flipped a switch, he suddenly became crazy, destructive Natsu again! After everything he did and said! After he promised me he wouldn’t, his final attack sends the monster straight into the mountain, which causes a landslide that levels half the town! Luckily no one was hurt, but we lost the entire reward, and then some. While that was upsetting on its own, the worst part was that when he promised, I believed him. I’ve always believed in him, of course. But I trusted him to keep his promise, and he didn’t. He’s never broken a promise to me before. But this time he did. And it hurts. It hurts so bad I feel like I might burst. And I can’t stop it.”  
  
Finally finished with the main story, Lucy gave into her feelings and let the tears fall, burying her face in her hands as Loke watched helplessly. After a few minutes, Loke coughed lightly, “What did you do when you got back? I know you went back to the guild, since you have a new job request.”  
  
Lucy spoke into her hands, “I gave him an ultimatum.” Loke looked at her curiously. “I told him that I couldn’t trust him, and that if he couldn’t find a way to earn my trust back…” she hesitated, “then he would have to find a new partner.” Loke’s gasp went unheard as she finished despondently, “Then I grabbed a random job off the board and left. That was it. Now Natsu probably hates me.”  
  
Loke objected quickly, “Natsu could never hate you. It would be physically impossible for Natsu to hate you, I can assure of that.” He wouldn’t elaborate further, but it still made Lucy feel better. “Anyway,” Loke continued, “do you feel a little better now that you’ve had a chance to talk about it?” A nod, and, to Loke’s joy, a small half-smile. Not the same as her normal radiant, beaming grin, but for now it would do. Loke stood up and tipped an imaginary hat in her direction. She giggled lightly, and his joy grew. “Well then, my princess,” he declared, “if you are no longer in need of my assistance, I must be off. But, as always, I will be there in a moment if you ever have need of me.” His tone became serious as he knelt down to her level. “I do mean that,” he uttered quietly. “If you ever need me, for anything at all, I’ll be there. Even if you just need someone to talk to, or even just talk at, all you have to do is call. You have my number.” He ended with a wink as he gestured to his key before returning to his feet. A quick bow and a flash of light, and he was gone.  
  
For the first time since leaving the guild hall, Lucy smiled fully, though no one was there to see it. Now that she felt better about everything, she decided that it was finally time to actually look at the job request. Pulling it back out of her bag, she looked over it carefully. About half-way through, her face paled. Moments later, the paper fluttered from her hands to the floor as she finally realized that she may have made a very big mistake. In the space for the client’s information was one very familiar name and face: Duke Sawarr Junelle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I'm working on chapter 3. I was swamped by college things, and I'm having difficulties finding inspiration at the moment, but I am working on it. Hopefully I can at least get the next chapter up before I go back to school. Sorry!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On her way to meet her client, Lucy finds a magic shop! What will she find? And is there more to the job in Oak Town than she thought?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I'm back! I know this one is really short, but chapter 4 is in progress! And I actually have a plan for the story now! So be patient just a little longer, it's coming, I promise.

When she arrived in Oak Town, Lucy first decided to check into a hotel. She had decided not to tell Loke about the job just yet. Better not to worry him anymore until she knew there was a reason to worry. The job, while dangerous, should be within her capabilities. She had her spirits after all, and she had been working hard to improve her physical fighting skills ever since the Eclipse incident. Capricorn and Virgo had both been training her, so even if her magic ran low, she wouldn’t be helpless. So, she wouldn’t worry Loke with the job details, at least not now. The client, however, was another matter entirely.

Duke Sawarr Junelle. That was a name she had hoped to never hear again. While the Duke was not necessarily a bad man, he was not a person that could ever be mistaken as honest, he wasn’t kind, and he wasn’t exactly a ‘good’ person, either. There was a reason Lucy ran away from marrying him, and it wasn’t just because it was arranged. The Duke, to be frank, was, when Lucy knew him, the perfect stereotype of a man born to riches. He was posh, he was privileged, and he was an entitled brat of a man. He could have or take whatever he wanted, and he knew it. He had a head for business, which was why Jude chose him, but he didn’t have much else. To top it all off, he also happened to be a perverted pig. His leer when he first met Lucy could have curdled milk.

Lucy wasn’t actually worried about him. Not very worried, at least. Her magic had gotten much, much stronger since they last met, and she was physically stronger too. She could take him down with one hit if she tried. No, the problem here really wasn’t the former engagement, although it could make things slightly more difficult. The problem was his business. Junelle had bought her father’s company out from under him. He was not someone to turn your back on. She had no doubt that there was much more to this job than the flyer said. 

As these thoughts swirled through Lucy’s head, she looked around the town. Up ahead was the hotel, and across the street, to her delight, was a magic shop! ‘Maybe they’ll have gate keys,’ she mused. She resolved to go across as soon as she unpacked.   
Looking forward to her little shopping trip, Lucy quickly ran into the hotel and checked into a room. The room was nothing special. It was clean, at least, with good lighting, a comfy bed, and a decent view. Lucy was excited about the complimentary coupon to the nearby onsen, though. She’d definitely have to look into that before she left town. 

Once she unpacked, satisfied with her room, she grabbed her small bag and walked across to the magic shop. A bell jingled as she opened the door, and the store’s only visible employee immediately came towards her, smiling brightly. Smile unmoving, practically pinned in place, she chirped, “Hi! Welcome to Oak Town’s leading magic shop! How can I help you today?”  
The girl, who couldn’t have been much taller than Wendy, was so cheery it threw Lucy off for a moment. “Ummm, I was hoping you might have some gate keys….” She cleared her throat and gave herself a mental shake. “I mean, I’m looking for silver keys. It’s been awhile since I found a new one, so I thought I’d take a look here. Do you have anything?” 

The girl (her name tag read ‘Nagisa’), looked thoughtful for a long moment, then gave a small “Oh!” sound before hurrying over to the back of the store. Lucy followed quickly, hopeful. Nagisa looked over the shelves quickly, made a small squeaking sound, then turned back around with something enclosed in her small fist. Lucy got very excited for a moment, but composed herself quickly. It wouldn’t do to look too excited, after all. The less interested she seemed, the more likely she was to get a good deal. After all, there weren’t very many Celestial mages any more, so demand for gate keys was at an all-time low. They’d be pretty willing to get rid of it for a pretty low price if she played her cards right.  
With a small smile, Nagisa opened her fist to show her prize. The key was fairly simple, with a sort of triangular handle, and a small wolf’s head inside the triangle, carved out of the metal. The actual end of the key looked almost like an ‘8’, like what you’d find on a digital clock. If not for the wolf carving, Lucy would have mistaken it for a normal house key. As she came closer, though, she started to feel it. The magic coming from it. It called her, and she started to reach out a hand longingly before hastily pulling herself back. 

Nagisa had noticed the hand, but chose not to comment. It was obvious that her customer was an actual Celestial mage. Her interest in the key was even more obvious. She could easily charge a great deal for this key, and she knew it. But, she wouldn’t. Nagisa had a small amount of magic herself. Not enough to use it, but enough to sense it in others. This girl in front of her had a great deal of raw magic potential, much of it untapped. She didn’t know why Lucy was in Oak Town, but Nagisa was willing to bet that it had something to do with the magic coming from the forest. If she was right, this girl would need that key. She would need all the help she could get. So, when Lucy finally asked the price, rather than haggling for ages, as Lucy expected, Nagisa gave her the minimum price of 18,000 Jewels and sent her on her way- with the key of the Wolf constellation, Lupus, in tow. And as Lucy went on her way, Nagisa said a small prayer, in hopes of Lucy’s success and safe return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, my friend drew Lupus's key for me! It's on her tumblr, or will be soon! Go check it out! (If anyone knows how to link to it, in the text or the notes, let me know). Her tumblr is asunathedarkfairy  
> I promise chapter 4 will be longer!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy is about to talk to Junelle. She and Loke have a little talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's really, really short again, but at least you get another chapter! Two in one day! Also, it was just a really good stopping point, and I'm really tired, and I'm going home for spring break tomorrow and I still have to pack. I will write more this weekend though.

After Lucy left the magic shop, still confused by the low price she paid for her new key, she suddenly looked at the time. To her dismay, it was almost time for her to meet with Junelle for the full job description. In fact, if she didn’t hurry, she’d be late! She’d have to make a contract later. She rushed through town to get to Junelle’s mansion.

As she ran, she looked over her new key. She hadn’t seen it before, of course, but it was obvious which spirit it belonged to. ‘Lupus,’ she wondered, ‘I wonder what he’s like? OH, what if it’s a she? I think Lupus is male, though. I wonder what all he can do, though? And what he looks like? I mean, Sagittarius doesn’t look at all how I expected. And Virgo can change her shape to suit her owner. I wonder if Lupus can do the same thing? Will he be more like Loke, or Sagittarius? Or will he actually look like a wolf?’ Her thoughts were wild and frenzied, and she was stunned when she suddenly found herself right outside of the mansion.

When she realized where she was, she jerked to a stop, suddenly nervous. Despite knowing in her head that she was more than capable of handling Junelle, she did not fancy going in alone. After all, while it was only a short time ago to her, for him the engagement was over seven years ago. He was seven years older. Who knew what he would be like now? So, swallowing her pride, Lucy pulled out Loke’s key. He would stay with her, and he certainly wouldn’t judge her. He might get a bit overprotective, but unlike the others, he could make himself look like a normal mage, and therefore be less conspicuous.

Once she had made the decision to call him, the rest was easy. She didn’t even have to say the words before Loke came out on his own. He was always well-attuned to his friend and master’s mood. He appeared in the usual flash of light, with the usual flirty comment, “What can I do for you, Princess? A romantic twilit forest stroll? A trip to the onsen, perhaps?” He winked and gave a cheeky grin.

Lucy rolled her eyes, snarking back, “You wish, Loke.” She grinned despite herself at his antics before remembering exactly why she had called him. At the thought, her grin vanished as quickly as it came. Dreading the coming conversation, she bit her lip nervously.

Loke immediately noticed her change in mood, and sobered quickly. His voice was kind, but slightly harder as he asked, “What’s wrong, Lucy? You’re anxious. Extremely anxious, especially for something as simple as meeting with a client.”

Lucy sighed. “The problem is who the client is. You remember when my father sent Phantom Lord after me?” Loke thought that was a rather pointless question. How could he forget? But he simply nodded. Seeing this, Lucy continued, “At that time, my father had made a deal with a rival company in an attempt to form some kind of partnership. My marriage to the company owner’s son was part of the deal. That’s why he sent for me.” Loke was outraged, and he would certainly have words with both Lucy and Aquarius about Lucy’s father later, but for now he stayed silent as Lucy finished softly, “The client is that son. Duke Sawarr Junelle. My former fiance.” Her tone became more bitter as she finished, but her eyes grew more anxious, and this time Loke failed to hold back his growl.

On hearing such an animalistic sound from her friend, Lucy jumped. Loke’s expression turned sheepish and he bowed his head slightly in silent apology. However, he was still upset about the situation, and he would make sure Lucy knew it. “Lucy,” he began, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself, “are you telling me that you are about to do a job for a client whom you were engaged to against your will?” He thought he kept his cool rather well.

Lucy nodded, then added meekly- well, as meekly as Lucy can be,- “His family also may have bought out my father’s company from under him. And he’s a pervert. I probably should have mentioned that.” 

Loke thought he might explode. ‘She was actually going to walk into this?’ he raged to himself. Forcing his expression into something a little more pleasant (and less like he was contemplating murder), he turned to Lucy and spoke carefully, the outward picture of calm, “While I can’t begin to understand why you would still do this, I will, as always, support you in any way you need me to. So,” now he grinned, his usual high spirits returning slowly, “what do you need me to do, Princess?”

Lucy sighed in relief, glad that Loke had decided not to argue over this. “You’ll have to change your look. Just do what you did back on Tenroujima. The way you looked before you went back to the Spirit World. Basically, I just don’t want him to think I’m by myself.”

Loke smiled. “Of course, Princess. That’s no trouble at all.” Then, with a little more swagger, “And of course, if anything does happen, I’ll be right there to be your knight in shining armor.” Lucy scoffed, but before she could say another word, Loke had changed to his shorter hair and casual clothes, and had started dragging her towards the gate. “Now,’ he bolstered her gently, “shall we begin?” And with a small smile, Lucy reached out with her free hand and rang the bell. ‘Well,’ she thought, ‘there’s no turning back now.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I swear I'm not actually trying to draw this all out. But convenient transition points make my life easier. So I use them. Also, I might go back to Natsu next chapter. It's been a while, hasn't it? Oops.


End file.
